NEIGHBOURS are celebrating after DIY builder Stephen Lynch got himself into a hole lot of trouble.

Mr Lynch, aged 41, of Duke Barn Field, Stoke Heath, removed 200 tons of earth from his back garden because he wanted to put up an outbuilding, but has now been told he must fill it back in.

The gaping hole measures 40ft by 15ft and is 6?ft deep and he removed so much soil that foundations from neighbouring homes were affected - with one resident told she could not use the path to her front door because it was not safe.

Mr Lynch started work in May and fedup residents claim he has cracked pavements, spread muck on the road and kept them up by working with loud music on until 11pm.

Whitefriars Housing Association, which owns nearby houses, hired a specialist structural engineer and found the foundations of neighbouring properties were at risk.

It took Mr Lynch to Coventry County Court and now work starts tomorrow to refill the hole, which is expected to cost him £15,000. Engineers' and lawyers' bills will cost another £50,000.

Paul Gregory, aged 39, who has lived in the street for seven years with his wife Christine, aged 39, said: "It's been a nightmare for everyone around here from day one - we're hoping this is the end."

Joanne Mali, aged 35, who lives nearby in Hillfields, has a two-year-old son Jay, who is looked after by her sister, Christine Gregory, in Duke Barn Field. She has been concerned over safety.

Other residents, who asked not to be named, claimed Mr Lynch did not have any respect for his neighbours.

But Mr Lynch, who lives alone at the property, feels he has been treated badly.

He works 10 to 12 hours a day on the garden and said: "I wanted an outbuilding to put bits and bobs in so I dug half a metre deep by hand.

"Then Coventry City Council came out and said it needed building regulations and that I had to go a metre deep.

"But I thought that was ludicrous so I thought I would dig two metres deep and have basements.

"Then in January after I'd finished doing all this Whitefriars came along and said I had to stop work and it had to be filled in.

"My question is why didn't they say that back in May when I started?"

'Risk to safety'

RICHARD OSBORNE, assistant director for property and strategy at Whitefriars, said the court order had been a last resort.

He said: "Once we were alerted to Mr Lynch's actions, we invited him on a number of occasions to engage in correspondence to stop the excavation but he failed to do so.

"His actions have resulted in a number of risks to public safety, and also threatened the structure of neighbouring homes.

"Following notification of Mr Lynch's digging we employed a specialist structural engineer to assess the impact this was having.

"This identified that the foundations of our neighbouring properties were at risk along with a significant potential for the collapse of the footpath.

"This forced us to take legal action. We are pleased the court agreed with our findings and recognised the need to protect residents and property."